Mad Max 2 (1981)

Mad Max 2 (originally released in the United States as The Road Warrior and sometimes known as Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - Starring Mel Gibson, and Bruce Spence Release Date: April 28, 1982

(also known as The Road Warrior, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior). In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoli...

Director George Miller's follow-up to his own 1979 hit Mad Max is proof that not all sequels are inferior to their originals. If anything, this brutal sci-fi action film is even more intense and exciting than its predecessor, although the state of its post-apocalyptic world has only become worse. Several years after the deaths of his wife and child, Max (Mel Gibson) has become an alienated nomad, wandering an Australian outback that has fallen into tribal warfare conducted from scattered armed camps. After a road battle with psychotic villain Wez (Vernon Wells), Max meets up with the odd Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who takes him to the camp of a sympathetic group led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston). As Pappagallo's people are camped at a refinery, Max plans to take their oil -- more precious than gold in this world -- but eventually joins them to fight a band of marauders led by the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). The stunning climax features a heart-pounding chase scene involving an oil tanker-truck and a frenzied rush for the coast, with Humungus and his forces in hot pursuit. Nilsson is a scary villain, with huge muscles and a sinister pre-Jason hockey mask, but the stunt work is the key here, and it is more flamboyantly dynamic than ever, edited at breakneck pace and staged with manic fury by Miller and stunt coordinator Max Aspin. Savage and kinetic, Mad Max 2 is a must-see for action buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

"Mad Max 2" [released in the United States as "The Road Warrior"] is a film of pure action, of kinetic energy organized around the barest possible bones of a plot. It has a vision of a violent future world, but it doesn't develop that vision with characters and dialogue. It would rather plunge headlong into one of the most relentlessly aggressive movies ever made. I walked out of "Mad Max 2" a little dizzy and with my ears still ringing from the roar of the sound track; I can't say I "enjoyed" the film, but I'll hardly forget it.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Director George Miller Producer Byron Kennedy Writer George Miller Terry Hayes Brian Hannatt Studio Kennedy Miller Productions Distributed By Warner Bros. Rating R Release Date 24 December 1981 On DVD September 25, 1997 Runtime 95 minutes Preceded by Mad Max Followed...

Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.

Cast: Mel Gibson (with shorter hair still, looks good), that's all you need to know! Plot: Max is now a scavenger in the desert wasteland. He strikes deals which land him in the middle of an impending war between survivors in a compound and a murderous motorcycle gang. Thoughts on the film: • Kicks off [...]